A Close Call in Second Life!

Buy the ticket, take the ride.

Hunter S. Thompson

          While initially sitting down to write this story, something unusual happened.  (In case anyone is alarmed, this all happened in Second Life (SL) but does have Real Life (RL) implications.)

          Something that doesn’t happen too often when I’m writing.  A major swing in the story changed the angle that I had completely!  Not only that, but it was good news to boot!  (Significant Other does agree that it’s rare for me to be the bearer of good news.) 

          Here’s what happened!

          A few days ago, I learned that Naked, the beloved, nudist group of sims, was going to close at the end of June this year.  I’d first come across Naked over three years ago when I first started exploring nudity inworld.  This would have been a major loss to the SL community.  The sims were beautiful and regularly updated.  Some of the most extensive

erotic art galleries inworld were available for viewing and guest artists exhibited regularly.  There were areas dedicated to sailing, bondage, and, of course, plain old vanilla nudity.  

          The sims were a great place to wander about either by yourself or with a friend.  Besides the beautiful vistas there were quiet corners for partners to be alone and intimate.  Residents were friendly and respectful of one another.  I made several good friendships from Naked. 

          So, when Devorax, one of the owners, published an announcement that the nine sims which comprised Naked were closing early this summer, I was both shocked and saddened.  Devorax was spending over £1,000 a month to maintain the sims and he just wasn’t spending enough time inworld anymore to justify the expense.  He did leave open the possibility that someone could take over from him on generous terms.  However, I’d seen this happen too many times before inworld where nothing ever comes of these offers. 

          Except this time!

          Catori, a longtime Naked community member, has stepped forward to take over ownership of Naked later this year!  

          I only learned yesterday of this news and was only able to confirm it this morning.  (I

hope my three loyal readers appreciate how I stayed on top of this story for them!)  I don’t have all the details yet, but it appears that Naked will stay open as is.  

          I haven’t met Catori yet and I’m trying to schedule an interview with her. Catori’s generous offer will mean that the communities that comprise Naked will continue.  

          The implications here are significant.  A successful, long running SL community has been saved and has avoided joining the list of once thriving sims that have shut down for one reason or another.  I won’t say that this a major turning point in what has been an unending litany of closures but it’s certainly a good sign!  We will have continuity for a community inworld and not see its residents either thrown out to wander aimlessly across the Grid or to leave altogether.  

          Naked has always been one of my favorite nudist communities inworld.  (Significant Other’s eyes roll.  Need I say who gave me the idea to go about in the altogether inworld in the first place?) and everyone should celebrate its staying open.  Drop by and visit, especially if you’ve never been there before.  (Don’t be shy!)  If you can contribute

financially when you visit, I’m sure Catori would appreciate the help!  If you can’t, not to worry, then just show up and show your support for a wonderful community in SL!   

          I’d like to thank Devorax for all the years of fun and community that he supported inworld!  He’ll be missed!  I don’t know where his journey will take him but I wish him the very best and I hope his path leads him back to SL from time to time!  

As always, I’m grateful to all inworld for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who was passing through their lives!  

Additional pictures from my visits to Naked can be seen on this flickr page.  (No, no nude bodies, we’re still not that type of blog!) 

          My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I can be found on Google+ as webspelunker Ghostraven.

My flickr Photostream is located here.

On Skype I’m webspelunker Ghostraven.

I welcome feedback from readers, please either comment on my blog or e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com . 

          If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here. 

          Open roads and kind fires!           

Sex and the Single Avatar in Second Life VII - Naked in Second Life

Eros will have naked bodies; Friendship naked personalities.

C. S. Lewis

          Gotcha!

          If you’re this far into my story then you’re probably looking for another one of my stories about being naked in Second Life (SL).  (I do seem to be developing something of a specialty in that regard.) 

          Well, you’re half right.  I will talk about being nude in SL but this story is also about a nudist sim inworld that oddly enough happens to be called “Naked”.  Believe it or not, until just recently no one has been using that as a sim name in SL.  A couple of enterprising folks, one of whom is an old hand at nude resorts came across this fact and appropriated the name for themselves.

          The old SL hand is The Cat.  (Formerly known as Cat Lassally.) She is the designer behind Naked which opened in January 2013.  She was also the original designer behind Bare Naked Angels (BNA), another highly regarded SL nudist resort which closed recently after new owners had taken it over from Cat (as she is known to her friends). 

          I was referred to Cat by her business partner in Naked, Devorax.  I ran into him while researching Naked for a possible story.  (Tough work but someone has to do it, these stories don’t write themselves.)  I later met Cat and we agreed to meet later for an interview.

          When the time for our interview arrives, I TP into Naked and join Cat at a bar for our session.  (Yes, we’re both naked.  Naked has a strict nudity policy.  These are the things I do for my readers who are too shy to go walkabout in their birthday suits on their own.) 

          We begin with my asking Cat why she started and then left BNA.  Her motivation was that Wild Coast, another highly popular SL nudist resort, wouldn’t let her wear shoes even if she was otherwise déshabillé.  (Rules are rules after all.)  Cat couldn’t find any decent SL feet (Cat’s actual word is that Linden feet are “ugly”.)  at that time and couldn’t see how she could let the wonderful fact that SL was the only place where stilettos wouldn’t sink in the sand go to waste.  I learn that the woman is an entrepreneurial pragmatist. 

          So, BNA was born.  By coincidence, I’d been to BNA many times (Like I said, somebody has to do it.)  hoping to do a story.  It was a beautiful, little nudist sim with a tropical island motif and very friendly people.  I made many friends there.  There was a sexual component but it wasn’t overt and threatening like some sims are unfortunately. Cat couldn’t make the tier payments (A story I hear too often these days.)  Others offered to make the payments which meant they had to take the place over and Cat had to get out of the way.  She packed up her shoes and left which was a horrible experience for her. 

           Being the stalwart person that she is, Cat soon found herself talking about her next project inworld which would become Naked with a neighbor, Devorax, in Eden who became good friends with her.  She describes him as “the generous spirit behind the whole thing.” 

          Cat describes Naked as a chance to make BNA again, or something like it, and she does adore making places like this.  She adds we all have an idea in our heads of what would be the loveliest place in SL and we look for it, and probably never find it, and she was really lucky and had a chance to make my dream sim and and here it is - two of them!

          Cat had noticed that there's a real shortage of classy nudist places in SL. She finds Kaiya's sims (Wild Coast and Turtle Coast) to be lovely, as is Lupe’s Magic Forest  and Teresa Korhonen's Naked Dreams sim.  These are all lovely, but most nude beaches are so tacky and Cat wanted BNA and Naked to be elegant and pretty.  She smiles as she tells me this.

Right from the start Cat and Devorax kept the rules very liberal and the idea was just to let people enjoy the sim.  Visitors can be ejected and banned for two reasons only (other than age-play, which would have them abuse-reported as well). These were refusal to be naked or being rude.  (Shoes, of course, are permitted along with hats, jewelry, and wings.  Bikini bottoms are also permissible if someone really wants them.) These were her guiding principles at BNA and have been continued at Naked.  If someone is rude or impolite then Cat'll ban them.  (She will, I’ve see her do it.) 

Recently, a neighboring sim was acquired and is now known as Naked West. The sim has more of a natural look about it and utilizes skyboxes more than Naked does. 

Naked and Naked West are feminine sims Cat explains to me. She feels that so many sims are designed for boys to use women as property. Cat uses the Gorean concept as an example.  (Definitely not one of her favorite lifestyles inworld.)  But Naked is really for men who like women.  That may sound obvious, but Cat believes it really isn’t.  She continues that lots of men ‘like’ women, but only as sexual objects, and Naked is really designed for the guys who like to spend time with women, who like chatting with them and know that the quickest way to their heart is to make them laugh.  Certainly a very healthy outlook!   Cat wants men who really like women. Not the men who see women as merely sexual conveniences. 

Cat also became really fascinated by the SL art-scene along the way which is so vibrant, but sort of not really well known, so with Devorax's help she put together a collection of original art-works and they're scattered all around the sim. She hopes people who come here will see them and perhaps go and buy some for themselves.  (Supporting artists and sim operators is important.  I encourage my readers when they can to either purchase from original creators or contribute to the upkeep of sims that they enjoy.  This is my public service announcement.) 

Finally, Cat adds that it is a sex-sim, of course!  Naked has “LOTS” of toys and she surmises that's why most people will come. Interestingly, she doesn't think nude sims are the sexiest in SL. When Cat wants to be “sexy-sexy” she will wear clothes. (Isn’t that the way it is in RL too?) For her, nudist sims are places to meet and there's a sort of bare honesty about it she explains. Cat loves seeing people making love all over the sim and thinks of it as a place to meet and make friends above all. She believes if  people are given a classy and elegant sim then they'll behave in a classy and elegant manner. That's her hope, anyway!

          Cat asks that visitors be kind, be respectful and be polite!  She and Devorax are trying to make Naked into an elegant, tranquil and slightly naughty resort, so they don't want it spoiled by boorish behavior. 

          Naked itself has an imposing sense of grandeur somewhat akin to the classical civilizations in the ancient Mediterranean world.  Cat uses off the shelf scripts to build her sims wishing that she could code.  Still, the effect created is very unique and does not have a déjà vu feel about it which sometimes occurs in other cookie cutter sims.  The underground caves in Naked West have to be visited.

           I’d like to thank Cat for her time and candor in answering my questions.  She has done a magnificent job in constructing and managing Naked. For anyone looking for a classy nude experience in SL, I strongly recommend Naked.  (Please don’t hold it against them because they let me in.  Freedom of the press, you know!) 

          I’ve included several photos (No, no nude people!  I’m still not that kind of blog.) of Naked from a recent visit. My puny efforts do not do Naked justice and it has to be seen for itself.  Who knows?  Maybe you’ll run into me there! 

          Also, I mentioned a few other nudist resorts and I plan to visit them for more stories.  So keep an eye on the Sex and the Single Avatar in Second Life series for my future visits to these nudist resorts! 

 As always, I’m grateful to all for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who was passing through their lives.

I welcome feedback from readers, please either comment on my blog or e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com . 

     If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.

Photo No. 1 Cat

Photo No. 2 Devorax

Photo No. 3 Building I

Photo No. 4 Building – Interior II

Photo No. 5 Artwork I

Photo No. 6 Artwork II

Photo No. 7 Building III

Photo No. 8 Piano Room

Photo No. 9 Beach View

Photo No. 10 Building IV

Photo No. 11 Obelisk

Photo No. 12 Coastal Ruins

Photo No. 13 Underground Waterfall in Naked West

Photo No. 14 Sunrise